The Start of Something New
by From B2A
Summary: Desmond had always loved Lucy, but as nothing more than a close friend he could confide in and learn from.  But neither of them ever shared any intimate feelings.  What happens to Rebecca and Desmond after they both lose their best friend and confidant?
1. It All Started Out So Innocently

**_It All Started Out So Innocently..._**

"Requiescat en pace," I mutter, gently lowering the man's head to the ground. A greedy banker, stealing all he could from the poor by influencing officials to tax them higher and higher for properties. He had been corrupt, I had done what was right, this was certain. His elegant, pure white robes lay around the sprawled cadaver, now soaked with blood from his body, blood I had drawn. He gave no fight, as countless others of his kind had once caught, and merely found himself trying to outsmart me.

"What the hell?" I heard a man shout from nearby, "He just killed that man! He's dead!"

My eyes dart up and I see the man, my reflexes kick in and I don't hesitate to quickly throw a knife from my belt. He falls to the ground, another murder, but necessary. My bounty by now was up far higher than any other man's in the Brotherhood or Thieves' Guild. As several others turned their heads I reached to my pouch and withdrew a small, metallic sack. After a quick pull on a string along the top of the sack, I threw it down. The citizens and guards around me began to cough and hack powerfully. I turned and saw a building, I had to improvise.

I felt my feet push me up the building to the ridge of a window. Another step up put me on a beam from which a plant pot hung and I scrambled on top of it. From here I could reach the upper edge of the stone building and attempted to pull myself up.

A rock landed just shy of my right hand, "Merda!" I shouted to myself. Another rock hit the building beside my waist as I desperately managed to pull myself on top of the roof. The guards were no longer distracted by the dissipating smoke and were trying to climb the building as well. I began a full sprint from roof-top to roof-top, avoiding being chased by more guards. Another three joined the two chasing me and I pulled two knives from my shoulder, turned around, and in one fluid movement threw them into two of my pursuers. They fell mid-run and I spun with finesse to continue my own getaway. A beam stuck from the edge at the end of the line of buildings and I did not hesitate to jump from it.

I tucked into a roll as I hit the ground and turned toward a large gate that was quickly closing to prevent my escape. More guards joined the chase at each corner, while others gave up from exhaustion. My breath lost the even in-out it had at the start of the run and I was quickly losing my stamina.

I saw five guards line themselves up, all in the same red uniform with metal chainmail over it. They held their blades up to stop me while another was still struggling to close the gate. My right hand rose as I approached and one of the guards looked at me arrogantly and laughed. "We're not moving!"

I merely smirked and pulled the hammer back. Upon release a loud bang could be heard as it echoed through Rome. He fell to the ground dead and the others were off-guard, I dove beneath the closing iron-wrought gate and barely made it. They began to curse among themselves and raise the gate once more. I laughed at their persistence as my midnight-black horse came from around the corner and I jumped to a lamp-post and swung to her back. I yanked the reins to the side to turn her around and shouted "Ya!" while my heels hit her in the side lightly.

I stood up gently, keeping myself slightly elevated. My robes were thin, my hood easily hiding my face from view. The hood came to a point at the front, like an eagle's beak, and the decorations around it were a crimson red. At my side was not the common long sword, but a jagged, unique knife owned by a fierce Warrior of Romulus. It was not a wide blade, but it was fast and it worked better for me than any combative weapon had before.

As the horse galloped I felt it bounce up and down while we rode the hills. If I saw a group of guards coming on horseback I gave a small whistle and two of my personally trained assassins would take them out and hide the bodies. "Whoa…" I said patting the horse as it stopped in front of a tunnel entrance. After a quick dismount, I stroked her nose and slipped silently into the tunnel.

I arrived at our established headquarters to be greeted by the assassins who had trained me, watched me rise through the ranks. La Vulpe was not at the Thieves' Guild for the day to get information on how my mission went and Machiavelli gave me a small bow and hand shake. I explained to them my situation and they sent out three of the newer recruits, donned in plain white robes, to clear my name around the city. I watched as they took off, destined to be great warriors of stealth.

* * *

"Yo, Desmond, get up." I heard Rebecca say as the shield that blocked my eyes retracted. She looked down at me, carefree as usual, and helped me climb out of the red chair of the Animus 2.0.

Shaun sat at his desk, points were pinned up on a map all connecting dots. There was a picture beside each dot, a kill Ezio had accomplished. Above it was a similar one, though the dots were not there, merely large circles in red ink, only one system of them was connected. One had a picture of Vidic beside it, it was thick and it was the largest circle. On top of this, that circle had a string leading to at least five others, all of which were connected to one another. The circles each had question marks in them, Vidic was a difficult find. One was over Roma, another over Firenze, and various other locations were marked.

He had nothing to do much since Subject 16 spoke to me, the message was nearly indecipherable, and considering it was personal, I would have more luck figuring it out. With a shrug I climbed from the chair and stretched my back. A satisfying crack ran up my spine and I sighed with relief. I looked at my two friends, Shaun and I had our arguments and our share of picked fights, but we never hated each other much. The relationship was complicated and bittersweet.

A sad look washed over me as I looked at the short, black-haired Rebecca, her headphones hanging limply around her neck and then to Shaun, the casual-formally dressed British man. Lucy was missing, her leadership, her ability to, if nothing else, make the team more focused on the mission at hand was gone. I put my face in my hand and had to steady myself on the bed in the corner of room and sit down. Just as I did, the door leading to our "office" opened with a hiss and William stepped inside. "Rebecca, Shaun, Mr. Miles, how's research today?"

Shaun merely shook his head and Rebecca gave him a look that obviously meant they were making no progress. "Shame…" William said as he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and walked over to me. He held my eyelid open and flashed it in my eye to check the dilation of my pupils. It wasn't necessary, I was perfectly fine, but he insisted on it. The man repeated it once more with the other eye and took a step back, satisfied with the result.

"William, I'm fine, you don't have to do that every day." I had told him this time and again, but he seemed to not care at all. He was balding, or his hairline was 'receding' as he called it, we all knew he was losing his hair. There was a thin moustache-goatee around his mouth and it was a dark hue of orange-brown. William merely shrugged and disagreed before leaving.

I examined my surroundings, the bed I sat on, though comfortable, was a rounded-square shape and seemed extremely generic. There were two pillows beside one another at the headboard and a white comforter covered it. The floors had hardwood, much like the apartment in the warehouse when I first began my training. My face rested once more in my hands, the stress had gotten to me for the millionth time since the day nearly a week ago. I had gone into a coma-like state for two days, and now, five days later, Rebecca and Shaun had given up trying to cheer me up.

I rubbed my temples and Shaun shook his head angrily and pounded his fist on the desk. "Desmond! Get over it. I apologize, but come on, mate, she's gone. Lucy is dead, and even if it was you who physically stabbed her, it isn't entirely your fault, stop pretending as if it is!" I had never seen him so serious, so angry at anything before. Just when you think you know a guy…

"Shut THE fuck up, Shaun!" I rose to my feet, pissed off as ever with retaliation. "Not entirely my fault? Not entirely MY fault?" I was done, done with the way he acted so condescending toward me, as if I were less than him. "I fucking stabbed her! Stop trying to take no sides in this, the Apple and Juno FORCED me, so either it is or it isn't my god damned fault, but stop pretending like you think it's half-ass on both sides!" I could feel his breath I was so close to his face and he glared back at me through his glasses. "I swear to g-" I had not time to finish before he cut me off.

"Okay, yes, Desmond, I DO think it is your fault, if you listened to anything we said, had some self-control to NOT touch the ancient artifacts while I explained to you what was happening, then maybe Lucy would still be here!" At this point his face was red, and we were eye to eye, I had almost pulled my arm back and elongated the blade hidden on my forearm before Rebecca had intruded, pushing us apart. I didn't know she was that strong.

She gave Shaun a glare, then me, "Desmond, stop. We don't want to fight here; we've all lost Lucy, and just because she's gone doesn't mean we can stop working. So don't talk about whose fault it is because it's not going to bring her back, okay?" The woman looked back and forth, my breath began to even out with Shaun's, but I could still barely contain myself from pouncing on him and sliding the blade through his throat. "We have 65 days left to get this done and this fight isn't fixing anything. Christ you two…"

Shaun resumed his position at his desk, back turned against both of us and Rebecca slowly walked back to her place beside the Animus on one of the larger computers. I couldn't see the screen, but I knew she was enticed by a fresh round of Solitaire or Reversi while there was less work to be done. I grabbed my white hoodie from the rack beside the door and slung it over my plain, black t-shirt. "I'm going out, I'll be back… Sometime."

"No you're not." William said from outside the door, clearly frustrated. I sighed and held up my middle finger at the door. "Not appropriate, Mr. Miles."

"How the fuck does he know?..." I shook my head, "Whatever, I'm not in the mood for anything right now anyway." I turned and started for the bed when I heard Shaun stand up.

"Well, I'm turning in for the night, good night, Rebecca." He addressed the woman, obviously not mentioning me on purpose. I was glad he was finally giving me the silent treatment, maybe now I could think without a condescending tone correcting my every contemplation.

I sat back on my bed, ready to lie down when Rebecca stood up and walked over to sit down beside me. "Desmond…" Her voice trailed off, Shaun had long since left the room and locked it. William had gone back to his room by now and Shaun had locked the door behind him. Sadly, Rebecca would have to do the same thing. I was positive that William had not given me a key for a reason, and that reason would be Shaun telling him not to. "I know it still hurts, and it will for a long time… But, she's gone… We know it, we just have to move on and stop Abstergo from controlling the world."

I gave her a half-hearted attempt at a smile. She put her hand on my shoulder comfortingly and stifled a small giggle. I looked at her; my smile grew a little, becoming slightly more genuine. "You know, Becca, I love when you laugh like that… It's amazing." I put my arm around her shoulder and she leaned into me. She fit into my shoulder perfectly and I closed my eyes for a moment, "you haven't told me how you feel, y'know… About all this, about what you think, what you believe."

She looked up at me, "Desmond, I believe what you've told me. She was a close friend to all of us. But you can't live in the past anymo-" She was cut off, I wasn't trying to be rude but it may have been a bit harsh when I did.

"Becca, that's not what I asked. How does it make you feel? I don't want you to hide this from me… I understand being strong around Shaun and William, but when it's just us… You can tell me anything." I looked down at her and pulled her shoulder closer to me. My arm reached up to her hair and pushed a strand that had gone astray back into line gently.

The woman shied away for a moment before sighing, "I feel dead… Lucy and I hadn't seen each other in a long time before , but she was my best friend… And I don't want you to think you killed her, at all, but she is gone… And I'm trying to get passed it… It's just hard, Des… It's just too hard…" She turned her head into my shoulder and I could feel her breath breaking up into sobs. This was the first time I had ever seen Rebecca cry; I had never seen her be anything but sarcastic and carefree.

I rested my head on hers and wrapped my other arm around her shoulder in an embrace. Her head moved to my chest and I rubbed her back softly, "Shh… Rebecca, it's okay… It's really okay…" I wiped one of the tears from my face, trying to hide how I felt. She shook her head and I knew what she meant; she didn't believe me this time. She refused to take her own advice, lying to herself.

I pushed her gently from my chest to meet her gaze. Her eyes were reddened from her moment of weakness and I softly wiped a tear running down her cheek off her face. My hands gently caressed her cheeks and I lightly pressed her lips to mine.

After a moment she pulled away, slightly happier. Her breath was moving slightly more quickly and I could feel her pulse under my hand on her cheek. It was the first time I had had kissed her, and it felt right, "Thanks, Desmond… How is it that every time I come to cheer you up, I wind up being the one needing it more?"

I looked at her and the corner of my mouth perked up a little bit, "Maybe it's because I know how you feel, even when you don't." She looked down, her face flushed slightly, burning a hue of red. I pushed her chin up to face me again. "Don't shame yourself, Becca, look up at me. I'm not judging you… See?" I asked her in a soothing voice as I pressed against her lips again.

This time she held it for a moment or two longer and I savoured it for as much time as I possibly could. She pushed away and looked to the floor. "I have to get back to my room, thanks, Desmond." She attempted to give me a smile but it looked more like she was in pain. I only returned one to assure her that she looked good doing it. "Good night," and with the good night, Rebecca opened the door and stepped out. I could hear it click as she closed it behind her, locking it.

"Good night, Becca…" I told her as she walked out, wishing I could've done more, anything more to help her get over Lucy. But my mind was still reeling from the events Juno and the Apple had forced me into. After Lucy's death and me waking from my coma, Rebecca confessed that she had come to see me at night and talk to me; even if I was unconscious, she wanted somebody to talk to. Over the several days that passed, she and I had grown closer. Somewhere along the way I had shared with her how I felt and she barely hesitated to tell me the same thing. What did surprise me, though, was how when we kissed, I felt as if it were the first time I had really been with her. Sure, we had talked, but something felt different, closer than we had been before.

I leaned back in the bed and put my hands behind my head. Closing my eyes I managed a small, but slightly noticeable smile rise to my face. It was the first time in a long time I was genuinely happy, or at peace even. I hadn't even thought about the one less day to stop Abstergo or the stress of having all the weight on my shoulders.

* * *

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own any characters from Assassins' Creed, nor do I own any rights to the franchise. It's fanfic, you guys know it. ^-^ Hey, tell me what you think, R&R, I need a bit of strong feedback, it's my first fanfic, let alone AC fanfic, and as much as I wanted to go a Desmond & Lucy route, I figured maybe I could make the Rebecca & Desmond route work just as well… Tell me what you think :) because I didn't see any Desmond & Rebecca stories at all, so I figured I'd try to first. So, please, constructive criticism, I wanna know what I can do better, is there something I missed in Rebecca's character? Is Shaun's condescending tone missing an aspect? Well review ^-^ I wanna work out the small kinks as soon as possible so the story can get going. :) Again, thanks for reading, I'll see you at the next chapter.**_

_**Sorry that I made the note so long, I'll try to keep it shorter in the future. Tell me what you think about the Desmond/Rebecca pairing, because seriously, I saw *no* other story like that and had issues coming up with a way to make it work. Hence why I'm really pushing for feedback on whether I integrated the relationship well or not. I'm still not sure what the future holds for the whole Lucy-is-dead-but-maybe-not thing that *EVERY* other story does (which is exactly why I'm hesitant). If I want a Lucy and Desmond story I can always make one separate, at some point I'll probably integrate a poll into my profile or the story or whatever I can do to ask you guys what you want me to do. But don't worry about the plot right now, just favourite, review, subscribe, whatever you feel is necessary for my first fic. :)**_

_**~B**_


	2. Do You Hear What I Hear?

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know I usually put these at the end, but I figured you should all be informed, if you don't know about it, that "The Farm" is where Desmond was born and raised until he was sixteen, when he ran away. Abstergo found him while he was a bartender and kid-napped him, that's where AC1 starts. :) Any other questions about references from now on will be put at the bottom of the chapter, I will find a way to mark them with small subscript numbers or underlining.**_

_**Side-Note: This chapter does have exceptionally more language than others, sorry it took me so long to get it up… Life sometimes gets busy, I'll try to update more often in the future. Anyway, I hope you like(d) it! ^-^**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Do You Feel What I Feel?**_

A knock on the door woke me from my light sleep. I had never slept deeply; my first sixteen years of life on The Farm had trained me, if nothing else, to stay on my toes. Given, I was not fully awake and grogginess had hit me like a freight train. The second my eyes opened I could feel a weight trying to shut them again. The door slid open slightly with a quiet hiss and I saw a head push itself into the threshold.

"Desmond?..." I heard it whisper as it looked at me. I recognized the person the instant her head entered the room and I tried my best to push myself up and appear awake. "Des, I… I can't sleep, did I wake you up?"

"What? No, no," I lied, poorly too. My throat felt as if it was full of cotton, and she could tell. I pretended that I hadn't caught any sleep, "I was awake, I couldn't sleep either, I've been thinking about all this Abstergo…"

"Desmond…" She said softly, calling my name as she made her way to my bed. She sat down beside me and smiled; though it was dark I could tell she was smiling, something about the air seemed to change. She was wearing a thick hoodie and pajama pants. I realized it was the first time I had never seen her in something aside from her extreme sporting clothes. "I know you're not that worried about Abstergo, because I'm not either… I feel like a bad person for it too, because I know how important it was to Lucy… And how important it is to the world… But it just seems like there isn't anything we can do about it, and we should just try to be as happy as we can until it hits." She frowned and looked down at her hands, which were resting in her lap.

I looked at her and I could feel my throat as it opened again and became clear for speaking. "Becca…" I put a hand on her back, "Come here…" She turned on the bed and I moved over a little so she could have space. An arm wrapped itself around her shoulder, "No, I feel it too… But with this whole Ezio thing… I don't know, I understand the Assassins and know that it isn't about us… And I know you know it too, but this is bigger than us, it's why we can't really care as much about the Abstergo launch."

I feel her head rest softly on my shoulder, "I still can't sleep…" I feel my arm pull her in tighter as my head rests on hers.

I took a breath, trying to plan out my next move. My right hand reaches over and grabs her left, both of them lying in what little space separates us. "It's okay, Becca…" I whispered softly, attempting to lull her to sleep. "We'll be okay, it's just a lot to take in, Lucy knew more about any of this than we did for a long time. You're not a bad person, believe me." I smiled at her, but she didn't look up, she was engrossed in thought.

"But, Des, what if-" She started but I didn't let her finish because she looked up to ask me the question, and I caught her lips with mine before she could ask.

As I pulled away she seemed to lighten up, "What ifs are not what life is about. Live in the moment, Rebecca, our moments." I smiled again charmingly, hoping that she would not argue the point farther.

She clearly thought about attempting to ask again, but merely smiled and decided I was at least right to the point where she would believe me. Her right hand came up and cradled the back of my head before pulling me in once more for another kiss.

When we both stopped, she kept her green eyes locked on mine. Rebecca looked slightly sadder than before now, "Des… I-I don't think we can…" She swallowed and bit her lower lip, "I don't think we can do this… Not with this situation, I'll only be a distraction…"

"No… No, Becca, that's… That's wrong." Her words struck me like a spear, "Please don't do this… I'll only be more distracted if you do…"

She looked at me once more, "You and I both know that's a lie…" The woman wriggled from my arm and released my hand. "I-I… I'm sorry, Desmond…" She gave me one more, quick, small kiss before she climbed off of my bed and to the door. As she opened it and was about to step out I saw her head turn to me and her eyes fight the tears. Even in the dark she looked beautiful. I saw a small glint as it ran down her cheek, one tear, a single solid tear before the door closed and locked behind her.

My throat closed again, I could barely breathe. I looked at my watch, the same one she had, the same one Shaun had, and the same one William had. All the Assassins used them, it was set to change with each time zone on their own, it was an Assassin-owned satellite that powered them with time. It was two-thirty in the morning, had she woken up to tell me that or did it just happen?

Thoughts swirled through my head, each one fighting another, the backs of my eyes stung and burnt, but I tried to fight it. I let out a violent, quick breath and felt my eyes give way with the sob. I brought a knee up and rested my arm on it over my eyes, hiding my face from nobody. The salty drops fell from my face onto my silky gym pants. Did I wear them to work out often? No, but they were comfortable and I slept in them and moved around in them easily. I sniffled a bit before wiping and rubbing my eyes.

I watched the door, hoping she would come in, tell me that she changed her mind, tell me that she made a mistake, anything to fix what happened. But nothing came, there was absolute silence and it killed me. We hadn't been close or together for long, but now I didn't know what I would do without her, it wasn't like I would talk to Shaun or William about any of this. Shaun would make it worse and William didn't know anything.

I tried to close my eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to. My mind reeled at a million miles a minute, wondering what had brought it up. I muttered quietly in my seclusion to myself, "Did I… Did I do something? Say something wrong…" My face still rested in my hand, "What could've happened…?" My eyes were extremely dry by now, but still red and irritated. Something had to be wrong with me, it had to be my fault.

For whatever reason, I had blamed myself for problems everybody else had for a long time, nobody ever told me not to, so now I felt as if responsibility for Rebecca's action was through fault of mine. I felt like shouting, like throwing something across the room, or breaking down the door to see her. Nothing would help me though.

That was when I heard it, a knock on my door made my head perk up. I was almost afraid to say it, but my hoarse voice desperately asked, "Rebecca?" I couldn't even hear it.

"Are you inside, Mr. Miles…?" I heard an older man's voice come from the other side. Horror struck my body, a chill ran up my spine. I could feel his chilling stare on me, his cold, stoic face glaring me down. "Come along now, Mr. Miles. We don't want any problems now… Do we?"

I heard a click and the door opened. I had ripped the sheets from my body and jumped from the bed to grab my blade. It was sitting on the bedside table, easily accessible. I put it on my right arm and elongated it, though I had no time for shoes. No words escaped my mouth while he stared at me.

"Now, now, Mr. Miles… Let's not be rash." He wasn't trying to calm me down though, several of his guards followed him inside, and one held Rebecca's hands behind her back and covered her mouth with his hand. Three others were standing alone; there was no sign of Shaun or William. "Who is this…? Ms. Crane? Oh Lucy has told us much about you."

I recovered my voice enough to retaliate loudly, "That's a lie!" It cracked when I said the final word and even in the dark it was obvious to tell I had been in an unstable situation moments before. Warren flicked the lights on and I could see Rebecca's reddened eyes in the light. Was she crying slightly because she saw how hurt I was? Was it because she had been kidnapped? Or had it been because she had regretted what she said? A flutter of hope met my heart; maybe Warren made her say that to destabilize me.

"Oh, contraire, Mr. Miles, we have her in detainment and she's spilling everything. How do you think we found this place?"

My face was distorted with anger, "I don't know how you found it, but Lucy didn't know we were here. You son of a bitch…" I looked at Rebecca; fear was covering all of her features. I sprinted at the railing, "You die today, Vidic!" I shouted out loud as I vaulted the rail only to be met by two guards. They were holding pistols pointed at me, but instead one of them tried to hit me with the butt of the gun. I ducked as I grabbed his wrist and snapped it.

Vidic took a step back, "You've become a better fighter, Mr. Miles. I'm impressed," he commented as I took the pistol and smacked one of my assailants across the face with it. He fell to the ground, missing two teeth as the other began to pull his trigger. He was too slow and my blade was in his stomach and then across his throat. He fell to the ground dead, his partner was unconscious. As the third tried to hit me, I ducked again before punching his stomach and sending him reeling. I turned to see in horror that Vidic and the guard holding Rebecca were running from the building. I scooped up a handgun as I ran from the room after them. The guard I punched had given up, winded from the blow.

"Get back here you son of a bitch!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as we ran from the building into the fresh air. I felt rejuvenated from the sudden burst of beauty that filled my throat, lungs and blood. My stride grew longer and faster and I saw no sign of William or Shaun, they must have been far enough away to not be caught. I pulled the handgun up to eye level but could get no clear shot. In a desperate attempt during the chase, I threw the weapon as hard as I could at Vidic. He lost several strides at the surprise he was given and nearly fell down. The guard stopped behind him to avoid hitting him and I caught up for the most part. "Rebecca! I can almost get him!" I said loudly to her, almost within reaching distance. She squirmed to disturb the guard's run. Vidic did not stop for him as I ran passed. Upon passing the large man, I reached down with a small spin and sliced the back of his leg. He fell onto his side and released Rebecca.

She did not enjoy her time as captive and was full of vengeance. My chase on Vidic was still ensuing as Rebecca put a foot on the guard's head, dryly asking, "Who's the bitch now?" The fact that he had even called her a name like that was enough for me to kill him, but Vidic was more important as he had led the attack. How did the old man run so fast?

"Get back here!" I shouted with all signs of grogginess gone. I was losing breath, but he seemed unfazed by the running. I felt my legs bend and shoved off the ground into a strong pounce. I tackled him to the ground and held the blade to his throat. "How do you like me now?" The man grinned back, of all the nerve. I pushed the blade closer and was about to slash when I felt myself knocked to the ground.

A fist met my jaw and I fell unconscious, the last words I heard were "It was your fault, Desmond."


	3. The Other Side

What was that? Smoke? The thick air wafted under my nose. No, it wasn't smoke. I inhaled strongly and smelled a delicious scent as it filled my nostrils. It smelled buttery and syrup was obviously in the mix, but I soon made out the smell; pancakes. I moaned and tried to open my eyes before I saw a blue blindfold over them. I made to reach my hands up at the cloth and realized they were awkwardly behind my back and tied together. Soon thereafter I noticed my feet were tied to each other as well and I flopped onto my back somehow. Though, whatever it was I was sitting on was extremely comfortable.

My groggy voice called out, "Hello? Help?" A voice replied back, surprising me.

"Yes, Desmond, I'm coming." I heard the sound of an extremely familiar voice from another room. I could not tell where I was but I could tell the sound had travelled through walls by the muffled echo.

"Lucy?" I moaned to myself, "What the hell is going on, Luce?"

A door opened and the woman responded, "Oh, well, you were fighting Abstergo, so we came and kicked your ass… Any other questions?" Her voice was sarcastic as her small hand untied my blindfold and feet. However, she did leave my hands bound by the strong cloth.

I glared at her, but it had little affect due to the light my eyes had to adjust to. "No… Wait, yes… Fuck! Wait, 'we' as in, you're one of them?" My eyes soon adjusted and I could see her. The bright blond hair was pulled back in its usual ponytail; her brown jacket was still over her shoulders. Underneath I could see her normal white shirt. Something was different about her coat, and I could not place it. Within moments I realized on her shoulder was the insignia of Abstergo, sewn into the apparel. Confusion hit me like a tidal wave, her alignment had jumped from side to side so many times.

"You've never been a brilliant one, Desmond. Yes, I've never left Abstergo since I joined. What started as a mission for the Assassins made me realize the good they really do show the world. They guide the people well; help them make the right choices…"

"You mean force them!" I belted out, pushing myself up into a sitting position against the headboard of the comfortable bed. "Untie my hands, Lucy, I'm not going to attack you." My voice, however, was not so convincing.

"I'm not stupid. Now, Desmond, get up, I made pancakes." She stood up, straight-faced, and walked out of the room. I stood up and followed her out with my hands still stuck behind me.

"What are you going to do, feed me yourself?" I asked skeptically. My heart sunk when my response was a nod and an affirmative hum. "You've got to be kidding me…" I muttered under my breath.

The walls of the rooms were light shades of blue. It would be calming if I weren't a hostage in the apartment. Or was it a house? I followed Lucy into the kitchen, the beige carpet meeting with the white tiles. The sun blared in through a curtained window, looking out I saw it was in fact an apartment. Lucy then closed the curtains as to keep me from seeing out and she set a plate of pancakes in front of me.

"Are you going to shove your face in it or am I going to have to feed you?" She asked in a flat monotone. The woman looked at me with a hand on her hip and a skeptical look on her face. She also set down a glass of orange juice beside the plate.

"Just untie my god-damned hands, Lucy." I ordered sternly. She laughed and said no, "Then you're feeding me. C'mon, have a seat." She sighed angrily and sat down beside me awkwardly. I merely laughed, at first I thought it would be awkward, but upon seeing her discomfort made it all that more enjoyable for me. "So, you were the one who hit me when I had Vidic in my grasp."

She nodded and cut a piece of pancake, "Stop talking." Lucy shoved the fork in my mouth; clearly she was enjoying it more than I was. I grinned as I inhaled and opened my mouth, a look of horror crossed her face as I exhaled powerfully and shot it at her.

She stood up, "Christ! Could you be -more- difficult to work with?" I heard it before I felt it, the loud smack as the back of her hand met the side of my face. I was now looking off to the left, a red mark imprinting itself on my face, it stung immensely. Her eyes were fierce, angry, and a fire burned within them I hadn't ever seen.

As the woman brushed herself off, disgusted, I smirked. Despite the burning on my cheek I managed to let out a small laugh, "Yeah, I could be, would you like to see it?"

Lucy glared at me, "Feed yourself, asshole." She stood up, still disgusted before walking around behind me. Whatever tied my hands together was cut free, and the woman retreated to her room to change from her dirty shirt.

Relief washed over me as I felt my hands being freed, and dug into the delicious buttery taste that was the pancakes. It took moments to finish the meal before I stood up and began to look around for ways to escape. The window was my first choice, but after moving the curtains I found thick steel metal bars. "Dammit…" I muttered to myself as I looked around, the door was locked, if I could find my blade I could get away, or at least feel more comfortable. I heard Lucy stirring in the bedroom, she would be out soon, the water in the attached bathroom was running as she washed her face.

I walked over to beside the door and put my back to the wall, hoping to get a jump on her the second she was out. Moments later, the door handle began to turn and the door was starting to open. Once it was open enough I moved in front and moved to grab the woman. To my astonishment, she was ready, I felt a sweep hit my legs and push me to the floor. A foot planted on my downed chest and her voice was loud.

"Desmond! I swear to god if you ever try something like that aga-" her voice cut off as she toppled to the floor with a thud. I had pulled her foot from my chest and flipped her to the ground. "Desmond, get the fuck off me!" She called out as my hand held her throat to the ground, my legs pinning hers and my other hand holding one of her arms.

"No, now I want some answers." My voice was determined and Lucy stopped trying to fight me and sighed defeatedly.

"Desmond… You wouldn't understand… I wouldn't expect you to, just… Please let me keep you here… Stop fighting with me… Abstergo won't try to kill you here, they just want to watch you and keep you from hurting their progress to better the world…" Her voice sounded sincere, but I had also never thought she was lying to Warren while they had me in holding. "They already have the information they want… They have the Apple… Just please, Desmond…"

"NO! Lucy, fuck all of this, I'm done. Let me out of here." I was speaking in a beyond-agitated voice, my irritation was unmatched and I felt a snarl as it escaped my lips.

"Desmond, please… You're not getting out, I promise that I won't hurt you… Just… Live, don't try anything… I know you don't feel like you're getting anything, but Abstergo won't chase you here, the Animus won't be an obligation, Shaun won't be taunting you; and Rebecca… She won't be here to argue with Shaun all the time." Lucy really did seem as if she were telling the truth, but she had lost all of my trust.

"I'll stay… But I swear to god, Lucy, I will, I promise you, not be afraid to fight you if there ever comes a time- Wait…" I had to use every ounce of my strength not to seem fazed by her comment about Rebecca. My mind swirled, "Do you know where they are, Lucy? We had our differences, but we were friends, teammates… Where are they?"

"Desmond, don't…" A tear came to her blue eyes, "They're… They're dead, Desmond… I-I'm so sorry… I couldn't stop Warren from it… He considered them to be useless to him…"

I pulled myself from Lucy and had to hold myself on the wall to keep from falling over, "D-dead…" It wasn't true, I refused to accept it, and there was nothing that could convince me otherwise. I retreated to my own room, leaving Lucy to wallow in her own despair on the floor.

_**Author's Note: **_**Hey guys, I'm really sorry I couldn't finish this chapter so much sooner… My laptop's battery died (not just died, but I need a new one) and I still haven't gotten a new one, I somehow managed to maintain it to finish this chapter. I got half of it done instantly after Chapter 2, but after that I couldn't finish… I'm just glad it's done now, I hope you enjoyed :) you guys are awesome, I love the comments, keep reading and reviewing for me. Thanks for all the reviews, by the way, I appreciate them, sorry again that new chapters will be more sporadic and farther between for a while.**

**~BKS**


	4. In Her Shoes

_NOTE: _This chapter is in the perspective of Rebecca, as a journal entry.

*_Italics set the opening_

* * *

_A book lies on the floor of a building where Desmond was kidnapped; Rebecca, Shaun, and William had run away soon after the scene as to find a new undisclosed location. The book is black, leather bound and has golden-trim pages. It lies, open to the final page written on, obviously misplaced or dropped soon before departure, beside it lies Desmond's hidden blade, either forgotten or left as a memorial to the place. The book, if one were to flip it over, would read in the hasty, almost illegible writing of a fine-tip permanent marker that belonged to Rebecca Crane._

2012, Entry # [the numbers are too messy to read]

Christ, I don't even remember the date anymore… Our days are running short and that monster Warren kidnapped Desmond today… We're leaving tonight, and I barely had time to scrawl down some notes and blow off steam. Abstergo found us, I don't know how, but I know we're getting out of here to regroup and plan how we can get Desmond back. I'm leaving this book here with his blade, in hopes we can come back to retrieve them both.

That doesn't matter right now, I watched a man who I've been watching the last several weeks, even months, who the hell knows, and the days are a blur. He came to us with Lucy as somebody who was young, and had no idea what he was in for. As time passed he learned to embrace his destiny as an Assassin and he matured faster than I thought possible, he was sarcastic when we met, but now… I don't know anymore, I just know it's better.

But, the fact of the matter is that Warren took him and he and his God damned cronies took off, probably to find more people to come get us. I fucking **HATE **him. His voice is perverse and his face reminds me of the way the Mona Lisa follows you with her eyes across the room. I watched in vain as Desmond fought desperately to get the attackers off of him, but he had been on the offense and it was how they got him from behind… But now our only way of finding those Pieces of Eden are gone and we can't do shit until we find him, which is what we'll do, but I don't know how. I have pages before this with tears that were once all over them, the water marks are still visible to whomever is reading this, I'm sure, but this one by far is the most painful to write, I only hope the paper doesn't fall apart in your hands as you read.

But this entry isn't about me complaining because of our loss of Desmond and how that sets the team back, that would be Lucy's- _[the writing is hastily written in a messy fashion and then clearly scribbled out, clearly being something Rebecca wished to forget or didn't want somebody reading] __It's about him, I will admit that… But the team can be in my thoughts, I don't __**feel**__ the needs of the team, I help think about them. No matter how long we'd known each other… Desmond and I had always been friends, even if at first he was a bit immature and instigated with Shaun a lot, but it was funny sometimes, and I always thought it was funny the way they would volley with banter. I know he's alive… I know he's out there… We just have to find him._

_Shaun, if you're reading this now… Stop. You shouldn't have come this far, but if you are reading, I'll know you did, and I highly advise you to put it back where you found it… __**NOW**__. _

_I'm going to put into words something I haven't said in a long time… I've said it about Lucy once and about my family since I've had to abandon them for the Assassins… I miss him. But, I don't just miss him… He was everything to me after Lucy died, right up until earlier tonight, I was his everything… I just hope he'll forgive me… I love him… And I haven't even known him for a long time, really. I just know it._

_Goodbye,_

_Rebecca Crane_

_PS: You're so dead, Shaun._

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_**Ugh... Sorry, I had this long note written out before and it deleted it before I saved... So I don't know why it did that and it wouldn't let me undo... Either way, I'm going to cut it shorter (your lucky day, yeah?). Thank you guys, for all the reviews, though more of them would be nice (hint hint), and I really appreciate all the favourites and subscriptions I've been getting. :D I don't know what perspective Ch. 5 will be, go ahead and e-mail me if there's something you'd really like me to do, review how I did with the journal entry please ^-^ and I would really appreciate any comparisons you can make between this chapter and others so I can see whether another one of these is ever wanted again. Thank you, everybody, you're the reason I write and I want you to be happy ^-^ but I can't please everybody, so just send me things you want to see and maybe I can put them in. Goodnight, review and I'll see you in Chapter 5 and my Inbox. ;)**

**_~BKS_**


	5. Like a Record, Baby, 'Round 'Round

"C'mon, Desmond, get up." Lucy commanded angrily, shaking me from my bed. In the last two weeks I'd been here, Lucy had become extremely aggravated toward me each day. "C'mon, get up." Her voice was stern, clearly not up for any games.

"Hm?" I rolled over to climb out, "What's with the butt-frustration, Luce?" As I stood up, I satisfyingly cracked my back and neck. "Christ, you got somebody coming over and you don't want them thinking I'm a hostage? 'Cause I am, if you haven't noticed..."

"Shut up, Desmond..." Her angry voice had warned me to stop talking sarcastically. Then I heard the door open behind her. It was slightly raspy, but had more of a perverse sound to it, the voice. The ring of it made me gag on my tongue. The sound was never a positive one in my memory, permanently etched there, and was worse as of late.

"Ms. Stillman, I presume Subject 17 is behaving exemplary?" Warren Vidic asked impartially.

"Oh, I'm Subject 17 now, I see." I rolled my eyes and Lucy turned around.

"Yes, sir, Proffesor Vidic. He's been a pain in my ass, but nothing more." She crossed her arms, no longer facing me. I had taken that as her ignoring me.

"Good, good. Now, Subject 17, if you would be so kind as to accompany us to the Animus downstairs?" The old man looked at me and a chill ran through my spine. It wasn't an intimidating stare, it felt disgusting to have them on me.

"What? Fuck no." I didn't raise my voice, I made the statement passively. "Now," I began, using the same crackling voice of Vidic, "Ms. Stillman, if you would be so kind as to kick Dr. Vidic where it hurts and escort Mr. Miles out of here." I felt using the name Subject 17 made the impression lose the nostalgia it once had.

"Oh, we're feeling whimsical today, aren't we, Mr. Miles?" Vidic turned on his heel, "I expect you strapped into the Animus within half an hour, any later and we'll have a problem on our hands. Am I understood? Mr. Miles, Ms. Stillman, I bade you adieu for now." With that, I watched as the creep of a scientist left the room.

"Subject 17... I've always been Mr. Miles." I laughed for a moment, "Wow, he's such a bad ass... Not using my real name like that." I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes comfortably after sitting back down on the bed. "No." I said without inflection, "I'm not going."

"Yes, Desmond, you are." Lucy said with the same indifference as I, except she did it while sipping a hot cup of coffee. How did I not know she left the room at all.

"Fine, let me get ready, get outta here, Luce." My voice was confident and as soon as she left the room I put on my hoodie and watch. Looking at the watch I knew the calling button wouldn't work out of range like the team and I were, but I couldn't help but think about them. I would even be kind of happy to see Shaun's annoying face again. I sighed and looked at my right forearm, it felt lighter than it should have, even after two weeks I still felt as if my blade should be on my arm.

"Good, now let's go, the Animus is in the basement." Lucy said as she opened the door out of the apartment and stepped out, not stopping for me.

"Hey! You said no Animus, Lucy. I swear to god, I'm finally getting over the visions from the Bleeding Effect, they've been farther between." What I hadn't known at the time was that me being away from anywhere my ancestors had been was why I didn't see them walking by every now and again. "And now you're going to shove me back in there?"

The woman nodded, "Yes. And if you fight, you won't survive." Her head was cocked over her shoulder as she walked, "And I also suggest you stop complaining, Vidic-"

I cut her off, "I don't give a fuck about that perverted mother fucker. Let. Me. Go." My voice was gradually rising as adrenaline distributed itself to my veins, my pulse quickened and hatred rose to my face.

"You should. You're his test subject, and he controls you." She had no retaliation to any of my comments, no inflection, she was calm.

"You... Bitch." The word rolled off the end of my tongue, disgust riding with it and every ounce of sincerity and hatred was packed into the way I said it. "I... Am going... to fucking kill you." I emphasized the verb before feeling myself lose my balance and fall backward. A loud, painful crack sounded from my face after Lucy's fist met my nose. It had broken with the contact and tears filled my eyes as an automatic reaction.

"Don't ever call me a bitch, Desmond. I can make your life hell." She spat angrily at me, clearly wishing she could connect her fist to my face again. "I will do everything in my power to make you miserable, if that's what you want. Is that what you want, Desmond?"

"I vacation there, you dirty who-" I didn't even finish the slur before her foot connected with my side, and I doubled over in pain. "Just wait..."

After a moment on my side, I had to push myself off of the floor and continue following Lucy to the elevator. I watched as the metal grating slid away to allow us entry and then closed in front of us as we went down. I couldn't help but to think while we were going down that it was an easier point to escape from than anywhere else.

A crimson liquid slid down from my nose, sticky and metallic. I didn't think she would fix it right away, if at all. Given, the broken nose was painful, but Ezio had gone through injuries far worse. The grating opened and we both stepped out into a large, circular room with Abstergo's "A" painted in the middle of it. On top of that A was an Animus and it looked very similar to the first version I had been in, but appeared more comfortable now, and upgraded.

Vidic sat at his desk, typing away at a computer in his chair, "Mr. Miles. You know the drill, just like we would do in the lab." Lucy assumed the position at the small computer attached to the Animus, "Take a seat." The professor said loudly from his desk, "We can get started."

I mumbled a few curse words under my breath before lying down. The glass screen stretched over my eyes and the familiar interface popped up. Lucy didn't pause before selecting one, it didn't look like Ezio's or Altaïr's either.

Everything faded away and I was once more standing in the white plane I had considered "limbo" since it was between reality and virtual reality.

_**Author's Note: **_**Hey everybody (: Chapter five got done quickly because I could keep my laptop plugged in the whole time (I know!). Tell me what you think, after this story is done (hint: There will be a sequel) I'll have another work I'll be doing that is... related, I'm sure by the end of the story you'll be able to piece together and take a guess at what it is. (:**

**P.S.: I know it's selfish, but I'm giving myself a plug here, "Two Sides of a Coin" is my new Pok****émon Fic (: Check it out if you're interested.**


	6. Back to Square One

I blinked a few times before looking around. This wasn't Ezio's villa, nor was it Rome or Italy at all. I was standing in front of a rock with a golden blade sticking out of it. Two of my hands gripped the hilt, it shined with gold and exploded with light the second I touched it.

"Don't let go, Arthur!" I heard a voice call, but I didn't look up.

I pulled and the sword easily slid from within the stone and I held it up in the air, it felt hollow and weightless. A crowd behind me began to cheer as I held it up in the air triumphantly. It began to shimmer and I felt a presence slide by me, everything around me froze. I could tell I was young, dressed in some form of rags. The presence whispered in my ear quietly.

"Arthur, not yet... Someday you will hold that sword high once more... But not yet, it isn't your time, it is coming..." And with that the sword dissolved from my hand and the presence disappeared.

I groped the air where it had disappeared and the crowd was stricken with confusion. Moments later they grew faces of hatred and distaste. "He's a witch!" They began to cry in a riot, believing I used Black Magic to dissolve the blade.

I shook my head and called out, "No, no! I didn't do it!"

"Well then who did?" Called back the voice. I had no answer to his question and the crowd began to charge at me.

I turned and began to run away, directly into the woods. Tree after tree passed my eyes as I was barely able to dodge them quickly. I ducked a branch, split around a tree and finally ran through a small creek. As I emerged on the other side and passed a tree, the palm of a hand grabbed my mouth and face, pulling me away. The roaring crowd ran by and the figure stood above me, holding me firm while I struggled to fight back. The man looked down at me and spoke with a rough voice.

"Shut up, shut up, Arthur!" His voice was hushed too, "Today, something has happened that will change your life and your children's lives forever."

I finally managed to pull his hand away, "Jesus Christ..." I muttered as I began to breathe heavily. "What the hell are you talking about? That sword was barely in there... And then something stole it from me!"

The man frowned, "Took it? What are you talking about? You mean you lost the Sword?" His face was full of disbelief and worry. "Ignorant child... God dammit... God dammit! What are we going to do now?" He didn't seem to be asking anybody in particular, but was more questioning himself.

"I-I'm sorry... Everything froze and this voice told it wasn't my time to wield it yet and then took it away by magic... How did you know my name?" My voice was now defiant, I wanted to know how he knew who I was.

"We've been watching you for a while, Arthur. It's time you followed me." The man turned around and began to walk away. Something possessed me to follow him as he strode away.

Deep in the forest he kicked the bottom of a tree trunk and it swung open. "Go on, get down there." He commanded me before practically pushing me through the small hole.

"Ahh! What the hell?" I called out as I slid down a chute and into a pile of lush, soft pillows. I quickly moved out of the way as the man came down after me.

"Loading... Loading..." I heard the Animus calling at me as The White Room appeared around me, "Year progression for ancestor: Arthur." Seconds later I watched everything fade away and knew the second that I rejoined Arthur's body that he was much older.

The lake stretched out in front of me for the last hour or so, I was just relaxing. It had been a long time since I could relax. I was just enjoying the breeze of the summer air, finally the sword from the stone was out of my mind. Of course, the moment it leaves my mind, something reminds me of it.

"Arthur..." The voice from so many years ago called me, I recognized it instantly, even after all the time passed. "It... Is time... Approach the water, stand in it where the water meets your waist."

Something possessed me to stand up and stand in the water where I was instructed to. A gorgeous woman rose from the water, her hair was down in golden locks, although she had just come from the water, she was clearly dry. She wore a long, pure-white dress and a sapphire necklace hung from her neck.

"Hold your hands out, just under the surface of the water." She told me what to do and I followed the instruction correctly, dipping my hands lightly under the water. "Close your eyes, do not look until I tell you to do so or you shall surely die."

Her voice was soothing and I felt the warmth flow around me, heard the water as it moved about. I felt the water as it left from its place around my legs, swirling around us as well. I dared not open my eyes for what felt like an eternity. But only thirty seconds had passed from when my eyes closed and she instructed me to open them once more. Upon opening them, the water had settled and when I looked down, the sword from so long ago and affixed itself into my grip.

It still felt as weightless as it had originally. When I looked up, the Lady was already gone, she had disappeared as the sword brandished itself to me. I had named it Excalibur, but I had not known it would lead to the fate of my children's children.

* * *

**_Author's Note: _Hey guys, I see those favourites! Thanks for all of it ^_^ I'm glad to be putting them out this fast. I hope you enjoyed the Animus Session with Sir Arthur and Piece of Eden #25. Review, review, review! (: If you guys don't, then I don't know how I can improve. I love that you guys are keeping up, but how can I know if you don't take a little while to tell me how it's going? :) Please, please, please review this one and Chapter 4 ("In Her Shoes") because I'd really like feedback on the journal entry. In fact, I desperately need that chapter reviewed ^_^ because I want to do it more, but if I don't know what you guys think, then I can't decide!**


	7. Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted

Everything faded with a slow flash of light and I watched as the glass pulled away, over my face. I heard Vidic as he looked up.

"Ms. Stillman, Subject Seventeen has only been inside for a few hours, he can go back in for a while, is there something wrong?" His voice was still perverse to me and I had to use everything I had to keep from tackling him from his chair.

"I don't know sir..." Lucy's voice was quivering a little bit and she leaned down in front of me, pretending to work on the machine. "Desmond, I know the Bleeding Effect will have negative influence on you, so I'm going to try to be slow with this, okay?"

If she was doing something nice, things would really begin to turn around. I could take advantage of the situation. "Now, Desmond," She started again, "You're in King Arthur's memory because we need to know what happened to the Piece of Eden number 25, Excalibur. Sadly, Jeanne d'Arc's only living descendant is nowhere to be found, so we have to start earlier in time to get a clue about it. Please, don't make this harder on me." Her voice was partially pleading me, so I nodded while she continued to fake-work on the Animus, "I promise this won't last forever..." She muttered the words to me, but they had no meaning due to the last few promises being broken in one fell-swoop.

I shook my head but conformed to what she asked, allowing her to pretend to fix the Animus for about five more minutes, giving me a slight break from the machine. She strapped me back down and the glass slid back over my eyes once more and sent me hurtling back into the memories of King Arthur.

I examined my hands for a moment in the new environment. Battle cries sounded all around me and I saw the Saxon army charging at us. Instinctively, I raised the golden blade high in the air and let out a deep, loud cry of my own. The armour-clad soldiers behind me responded with a roar in unison before charging forward around me. After about half of the army had passed, I kicked my horse and it began galloping forward. I was soon ahead of my whole army and, as it was trained, my horse turned around. I jumped off while it was in mid-turn hit the head of an opposing soldier with the hilt of the blade, sending him into a deadly coma.

All around me they attacked, but one by one I easily cut them away with the blade I had named Excalibur. It was a curious artifact that allowed me to lead and fight in a battle with prowess I had no idea existed. I swung left to right and aimed a jab behind me, killing yet another. The battle raged on for hours as I made my way through their ranks and my whole army pushed them back.

"They're falling back, men! Keep moving!" I shouted to the army behind me as we pushed and pushed. In the middle of their chaotic sea, I found a large battalion of Saxons all holding up shields while they advanced.

They easily blocked my first blow, as well as the second. I brought my right foot up and kicked forward, shattering one of the shield with it. Without hesitation I lunged at the open hole and killed one more soldier before destroying another shield with the hilt of my blade. I repeated this to fight the entire force using various dodges and maneuvers to keep alive.

Soon, after hours and hours of fighting nonstop, the Saxons retreated with the few soldiers they had left. I turned around to face an army staring at me in disbelief of our accomplishment. I looked down at my golden blade and then back up at my troops. With a tight grip, my blade was lifted high in the air and I gave out a mighty yell. The troops responded likewise and they began to celebrate amongst each other. Finally, I did a slow-motion three-sixty to look at the dead.

I muttered silently, "Rest in peace, my brothers..." I wasn't only speaking to my fallen, but I could feel that I had been speaking to all the dead.

That night, England raged with loud parties and festivities as the soldiers and patriotic families enjoyed our mighty victory.

"Loading... Loading..." The Animus called once more, "Time Advance for Subject Seventeen, Generation of King Arthur."

I now sat on barren fields that would one day be called France. Arthur, however, did not know this, he had found a way to sneak out of English and find this new land. I was now staring down at the ground, feeling my bones more aged than before. I lifted the blade up, pointed at the ground, and shoved it down to the hand-guard into the soft ground which would one day be hard again. The sword would not be discovered for many centuries, but I knew it was safe out of the hands of those who hunted it. As the blade sunk deep to the ground, I could feel my energy being drained with it. Of its own accord, the blade pulled itself beyond the hand-guard into the ground and used the last of my life-force to bury itself completely. It would only reveal itself to she who presented herself as worthy when the time came.

I could feel myself slipping away into the White Room and soon into reality. I had felt myself die, but it was peaceful with the body of Arthur. I woke up to hear Warren's voice once more.

"Ms. Stillman, you know as well as I do now that the descendant of Jeanne d'Arc is the only hope of finding that damned blade!" Warren yelled at the blond girl running the Animus's computer.

"Yes, Warren, I know! But we can't find her, somehow she escaped!" She yelled back at him with an angrier tone.

"Uhh..." I started, "Lucy, if I can ask, who is Jeanne d'Arc's descendant?" I asked her curiously, wondering who it could possibly be that was so hard to find.

"Re-" Lucy had begun to tell me before she was cut off by Warren in an urgent, yet calm tone.

"Ms. Stillman," He interjected forcibly, "That information is confidential, you know that as well as I do. Now, take Subject Seventeen back to your room, we'll continue the sessions in a few days."


	8. Day by Day by Day

-Knock, knock, knock-

The quiet pounding came from the front door while I stared out of the barred window to the busy streets below. I hadn't even been able to figure out what city we were in, and Lucy refused to tell me. She told me to look at the architecture and that eventually I would realize it, but I had been mindlessly staring out for hours every day since I had gotten there.

"Lucy, is it Barcelona?" I asked curiously while I heard her writing reports on the other side of the kitchen table.

"C'mon, Desmond, have you ever been to Barcelona?" She retorted cynically while she continued to write without looking up. "It's Firenze, Desmond, Florence. Please, just shut up." Her voice had an edge to it, clearly getting agitated.

I smirked without being seen as I pushed myself from the chair, "I didn't wanna be told anymore..." I muttered like a spoiled child, "Couldda figured it out on my own..." My grumbling was not helping her to become more calm, but I felt I had a right to exercise how spoiled I was acting.

Standing up from my chair it made a loud noise as it moved across the floor, clearly not helping Lucy with her angry mood swing. I shrugged as she stared more intensely stared at her paper, pushing hard with her pen.

The knock came again and she sighed, "Ugh... Can't I just do my fucking work anymore?" She cried out standing up fast enough to nearly knock her chair over.

Lucy moved her pen to her ear, letting it sit there peacefully as I walked to my room. I stepped inside and shut the door, muffled sounds coming from outside, most likely Warren trying to talk to her about getting me in the Animus more. I looked at my watch, it was mid-afternoon, nearly evening. My mind instantly went to food, at least the forefront of it did. My thoughts had never wandered from Rebecca since I'd arrived at this hellhole and most likely wouldn't be soon, it just so happened that food began to mix with her. She was still there, always there, the only difference was that hunger and instinct overpowered my ability to cognitively process my feelings for her.

I had almost forgotten her face, but I never did completely, something would always bring back a little missing detail here or there. A few minutes passed in the silent room as I debated whether I should get up and piss Lucy off about dinner or just think about Rebecca. I decided on the former, seeing as my stomach protested anything else.

I stood up and walked out, Lucy was disgruntled, still doing her work and I casually asked what was on my mind, "What's for dinner?'

Her pen his the paper, hard, and she put a hand to her face, "Christ, Desmond."

She got up, angry of course, and looked like she was about to hit me. I got ready to block her swing when I noticed she wasn't as angry as I anticipated, but she had red, wet eyes and I could see, after taking a look, a few drops on the papers and forms she filled out.

"Desmond..." She managed to stutter out, I could hear the pain caught in her throat, "Warren isn't going to let you take breaks from the Animus anymore..."

I looked at her curiously for a moment, "That's not what's bothering you. Lucy what's going on?" I asked with initiative.

Surprise struck when she stepped forward and actually gave me a hug. It was a real, friendly, comforting hug. I patted her back awkwardly for a moment, "Shh... It's alright..." I would reassuringly mutter a few times as she broke into sobs over who-knows-what.

"He's forcing me to do this... Before you woke up from your coma... I don't know when it happened, but Abstergo found us, Desmond, and they took me to find you." She could barely speak, I knew exactly how she felt.

The betrayals, however, weren't her breaking trust, they were her trying to keep herself and I alive. I looked at her for a moment, "Then we're getting out of here... D'you know where Rebecca is?" I asked her, still patting her back.

Her head shook in my shoulder, it was an answer I expected. She pulled away and wiped her eyes, sniffling all the while. She stood there in silence for a few moments, her cheeks were puffed out a little bit, red of course, along with her eyes and her whole face. I could even feel my shirt was a little damp where her head was moments before.

"We can get out, I know the way." She said determinedly as she stepped into her room, holding her hand up to signal me to wait a moment.

She came out, about two minutes later, with a white hoodie that had an eagle in gray embroidering on the back and a hood that pointed at the front over my head. It was folded neatly, and clean. On top of it, however, lie my blade, the one thing I had felt disconnected from the world without. She set them on the table, her cheeks were slowly regaining colour, but her nose and eyes were still red. It was obvious to me Lucy was trying to bottle her emotion.

I looked at what she had laid out for me and slowly picked them up. "Lucy, I..." I looked up at her for a moment, my eyes were even a little red, "Thank you." I set the blade down on the table as I threw the hoodie over my back, zipped it up to just above my chest and rolled the sleeves up to the inside of my elbow.

The hidden blade came next, fitting nicely over my forearm, snugly hugging the tattoo that stretched up my arm. I looked at it for a moment and let it shoot out and then retract before pulling my sleeves back down to cover it. The blade still had room to come out under the sleeve, but now it was hidden.

Lucy looked at the door before walking over to it wordlessly. She opened it and looked up and down the halls, waiving her hand for me to follow her. I stepped out behind her as she gave the all-clear. We walked apprehensively, silently in the corridors of the apartment building. Apparently it was an Abstergo lab and an employee housing unit. We finally made it to the iron-gate elevator and stepped in, riding it to the Ground floor.

-DING- It sounded as the doors opened. The receptionist didn't look up, in fact, she didn't know about the Animus project. We calmly walked together toward the door, and the second Lucy went to push it open I knew it was too easy, to obvious that it would happen. God forbade we found a working elevator and left some place without Hell breaking loose.

_**Author's Note**_**: Hey guys. ^-^ Sorry these keep coming late, I actually have been trying to write this one recently but I didn't want to fail with it, so I waited until the time was right. (: So today I just sat down and decided to write it. I haven't been seeing any reviews, which makes me kind of sadface, but I hope for them. (: Hope you guys enjoy your summer break, it's about to be my last day of school. Have a nice time doing what you do, read, comment/review, subscribe, more to come. (: Love you guys.**

**~B**


	9. Someone Like You

A hand came up to cover my eyes as the sun stung them harshly. They adjusted slowly and while I was gradually trying to keep them open. "Shit. Desmond, RUN!" I heard Lucy cry over to me, I still staggered back from the light as I covered them and looked to see Warren with crossed arms and four bodyguards around him holding batons.

I didn't hesitate to push from the ground and start running down the sidewalk, shoving people left and right, my eyes finally adjusting. "Watch it, asshole!" I would hear men call at me as I shoved them over, some on business from America or England while others were clearly Italian-born. My shoes pounded the ground, the guards running behind me, and I could feel them nearly grabbing my hoodie. My adrenaline pumped hard and I ran by somebody in a hoodie who looked at me from beneath the shadow of it. He seemed like he would be rather warm, but I couldn't identify him as I heard a loud thud from a tripping guard behind me.

Who was the man? Or was he a boy, he didn't seem to be older than the average college student. It didn't matter now, there were still three, at minimum, guards after me and my mind wasn't exactly working. I was working purely off of instinct as my feet turned, shoved another man out of the way, and put myself down an alley. Fire escapes on either building, but could I get them quick enough? That answer came when I saw two guards coming from the other end of the alley, clearly knowing I would take the path. The three behind me caught up and kicked my knee from behind, pushing my shoulder. I fell to the ground by my knees and gritted my teeth as I watched the two approach me.

One had a scar over his right eye, that eye had a pale blue colour to it while the other was a milky brown. One guard behind me held my shoulders down as the other two had me by the arms. The guard with a scar approached slowly, with two hands behind his back, clearly important to their team.

"Desmond... Miles... I prayed for a better fight but I suppose I was wrong now, wasn't I?" He asked after finally getting close.

The man made a motion to the guards holding me and they lifted me to my feet, still holding me at the arms and blocking the path behind me. The large guard brought a fist to my face, right across my jaw. My head turned at the hit and I felt blood leave my mouth and begin to build up in my mouth. A powerful pain surged through my tongue, throbbing annoyingly, but I dare not say a word as I spit more blood to the ground.

He put his hands on my shoulders and kneed me in the stomach, causing me to let a gasp out and strive for breath during the following moments. Pain surged intensely, and something else felt unsettled until he stepped back and I felt the vomit push out of my throat to the ground. Luckily for me, I hadn't eaten yet that day, but I still couldn't help the reaction as I hung my head, spitting a few times to clear my mouth.

"You..." I mumbled out, "You fucking bastard." I lifted my right leg quickly without thinking and hit the guard behind me where it hurts. He fell to his knees, hands between his legs as he cried out in pain, moaning, unable to stop the pain or apply pressure.

My left hand made a semi-circular motion and grabbed the arm of the guard beside me. I pulled him toward me, forcing his grip to release, and let him go into his friend, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. The large man and his own friend still stood strong staring at me. The larger one took a step back as the small one took a step forward, baton ready. Another step and his hand went up and came down toward my collar bone. I ducked, leaned forward, and grabbed his calf. Pulling him to the ground, I pounced forward on top of him, a knee in his stomach as I brought my elbow down on his shoulder, hard enough to dislocate it. He moaned in pain as his larger companion grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me up.

"Remember my name, Desmond Miles, Darrek Redding, this isn't the last you've seen of me." He pushed me to the ground and began to run away. I was puzzled at how quick he was for such a large man as I stood up and brushed myself off. I looked at all the guards on the ground, holding their stomachs, or crotch, in pain. The ones holding me were all uniform, but when I looked closely the one that had been with Darrek was wearing a green shirt, not a blue one, and his Kevlar didn't have the Abstergo symbol. The S on it was more serpent-like, it raised questions, but none that I could answer now.

I jogged to a fire escape, took a leap up, but missed the ladder. "Shit..." I muttered, looking for a way up the wall. I looked at the guards, their batons on the ground beside them, a plan formulating.

If I could toss it right, I could get the ladder to fall for me. I collapsed the baton to be just the handle and looked at the ladder. Taking a deep breath I pulled my hand back and stepped forward, throwing it hard at the ladder. It missed and clattered to the metal-grated floors. I tried twice more with the same outcome, leaving one more baton.

Looking around I muttered to myself, "Shit... I've got one shot at this..." I grabbed it and collapsed it and pulled back, just before I tossed it I heard a voice.

"Wait!" It called. I whipped around, dropped the baton, and released my blade to fight. "Don't take your chance." He stepped forward and pulled his hood down, coming to meet me.

"Sate your name." I said, taking his advice and not risking any chances.

He shrugged, "Not important, Desmond Miles. You're the only one who matters now. Here, let me give you a boost to the ladder." The man walked to between the ladder and I and squatted for a boost. I took a running start and he pushed me as my foot met his hands, sending me high enough in the air to grab the escape and pull it down. It made a loud clang as it stopped and I dropped the few inches to the ground.

"Thank you." I said to him as he gripped my forearm.

"Desmond, there are things happening even now that you couldn't hope to understand." His face had become grave and serious. "In a world where you can trust no one, remember," He started but my eyes met his and I finished the statement.

"Nothing is true." I pulled my hand away and he pulled up his sleeve to reveal a hidden blade and a tattoo of the Assassins' Insignia. "Who are you?"

"I already told you it's not important. Don't forget it, Desmond Miles. You can't trust her, the one who is disloyal to any side of this millennium-long battle." The man looked at me, put a hand on my shoulder for a moment, and turned around, walking away.

I made it a point to remember his face from then on, he wouldn't show up again for quite some time, but I knew he would be more important than he let on. His hair was black, he was nearly my height, and he had a scar above his top lip, toward the right side. His hoodie had been black, and when over his head it appeared there was an eagle's beak coming to a point. He walked away with his hands in his pockets, he had been the one to trip a guard behind me, and he disappeared in the crowd soon enough.

I looked at the fire escape and didn't want to waste time, I jumped to the bottom rung of the ladder and pulled myself up to the top in order to start walking up the stairs. At the top of the stairs I reached for the roof, slightly tired from the many, many floors I just climbed up the apartment building. Upon climbing over the edge of the building I walked to the side that was facing the street and looked out upon the large city in it's splendor.

The light of the sun was already setting, giving the effect of making the town more magnificent than it had been before. I closed my eyes for a moment before reopening them and looking out at the people of the city, I found Lucy. But a curious thing happened now, my first time seeing her in Eagle Vision since before we got the Apple and she looked different now. She was glowing from blue, then to red, then gold, before reaching blue once more. The colours shifted smoothly, from top to bottom. I closed and opened them once more to look at the world normally, something wasn't right, but I figured it would be best to keep an eye on Lucy rather than confront it and ruin chances of stopping Abstergo entirely.

_**Authors Note:**_** Hey everybody! :D I'm sorry it took so long to get this up, I couldn't think of a way to make a new chapter after I kind of pushed the other one along way too fast. :) I hope you guys liked this one, comment, subscribe, you know, the kind of stuff that authors love. ^_^ Trust me, the only thing that inspired me to really sit down and write this chapter was getting an e-mail about somebody subscribing. So thank you, Stairhopper, for pushing me to write Chapter 9. :)**


	10. Out of a Frying Pan

"Okay, Lucy, what's our next move?" I asked, sitting backwards in my seat at the small café. Lucy had gotten a cappuccino, but coffee was never my thing. The smell of it choked me up from its strength and the taste just made me cringe, it amazed me that anybody could drink it.

She barely acknowledged me as she looked at the newspaper, sipping her coffee, the front page had an interesting headline that made me tilt my head, "POPE TO BE REPLACED, SUCCESSOR NOT READY TO TAKE THE REINS?"

"Hmph..." It was ironic to me that I saw this headline of any, that it was out this day on the first newspaper I'd seen in several months. I didn't pursue it, the topic didn't affect me now, it affected me six hundred years ago. My eyes scanned down to the faded picture, the former pope handing his staff off to his successor, and everything flashed. I became dizzy, woozy even, as my stomach felt as though it filled with a mysterious liquid. A moan and my head hit the table.

"Desmond?" I heard Lucy as she saw me, but everything faded to black just then.

I lifted my head to find I was in a new place, a hood over my head. Bringing a hand to my face, I found some stubble on my chin, "Where am I?" I asked in a voice that was not mine. Looking around I saw the bustling streets of Florence, in the early 1500s, but what year was it exactly. I looked down to realize my armour, which I hadn't been wearing before, was a darker teal colour.

"Ezio, are you okay?" I heard Machiavelli ask me, "You seem a bit... Sick, are you feeling alright?" He was sitting across from me at the table. The table was small and round, the sun was setting, and if I looked to my right I would see a very small building, a restaurant.

I nodded, "Sí." I responded without thought, the weight of my belt clear as I finally made the connection I had gone back into Ezio's mind. That couldn't happen though, could it? I wasn't in the Animus and I'd never actually become Ezio without it.

Everything flashed again, the world speeding away from me as I was back in the café, Lucy shaking me. "Desmond? Desmond, what's wrong?"

I shook my head, "Sorry, I just felt a little sick is all."

"Desmond, what happened?" Her voice was stern, determined to get the truth out of me.

"The Bleeding is getting worse... I was in Ezio's body... Sometime in the fifteen-hundreds... We were at a café, I think he was right where I am now..." I left out the part of Machiavelli being there, I didn't trust Lucy enough right now to tell her everything.

Lucy muttered, but I didn't hear what she said. I could swear I heard "Subject 17" in her words, but I had no way of knowing what she actually said. My chair was heard as it scooted across the floor back, "Let's go, Lucy, we have to find Rebecca and Shaun." This was something I wouldn't budge on, just like her wanting to know what I saw.

She sighed and stood up, setting the paper down. "Alright..." The blond-haired woman pulled something from her pocket that I'd never seen before and set it on the table. She pressed a button on the screen, it looked similar to the iTouch, but after a moment it obviously wasn't. A screen blew up into the restaurant, taking up quite a bit of space, spanning from our table. She put her fingers to the map diagonally and pulled it in, shrinking the actual screen to keep from being disruptive.

"Okay, Desmond, we're here," She pointed to a dot on the map, "And we found-" Lucy broke off and quickly corrected herself, "We were found here." She pointed at another dot, it was grayed out. Our dot was green, and there was one other dot, coloured a navy blue. "Now, I looked at where the hideouts were in Italy, and I came to the conclusion that Erudito, Shaun, and Rebecca are all at this blue dot. Ironically, it's not as far as you would think we'd need to travel."

I looked at it and smirked, "Wow, I'm very impressed Lucy. Shall we go?" She nodded.

"There's a train station here," She pointed to a symbol that looked like a train and let her finger follow an invisible line to another one, "And we can get off here. They're beneath the station."

"Great, let's go." I said, stretching my arms and putting them in my hoodie pocket.

The walk to the train station was a silent one, we didn't have much to discuss right now, and part of me wanted to question her on her allegiance. Now wasn't the time for it though, and the station was only a fifteen minute walk.

We arrived and a man at the ticket counter asked us, "Posso esserle d'aiuto?"

I looked at him and without hesitating I said, "Due biglietti a nord." Lucy looked at me, astounded and speechless as he handed us tickets. "Grazie, signore." We gave one another a small bow before Lucy and I walked away toward the train.

I looked at her with wide eyes, "Lucy did I just-"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. What the hell was that?" She exclaimed, pushing me to a wall, meeting my eyes from a few inches below.

"I don't know... Maybe I picked up a little bit of it being in the Animus so much?"

"Picked it up enough to be fluent in a language you never even practiced before? Christ, Desmond, you never spoke Arabic before, but you were in Altaïr's memories." She blew a stray strand of blond hair out of her face as she released me.

I shrugged, "Perhaps it is just because I'm that good..." I said in Ezio's voice, giving myself credit for being able to imitate my Italian ancestor so well. I gave a small laugh and started walking again, Lucy didn't find anything amusing anymore; then again, she never did before either.

We boarded the train and sat down just before the doors closed and the train began to move. I man in a green hat looked over at me from the corner of his eye, I didn't dare return it, I was observing from my peripherals. I leaned back, and let out a smooth breath after closing my eyes. When I opened them, Lucy was still glowing yellow, blue, and red, I turned my head around, examining my surroundings. The man in the hat, along with three friends in the same section of seats, were a vibrant red. In fact, I saw a few areas of seats glowing in red. But I saw, in the very back corner of the train, a faint blue glow, he was hidden by the soft white glow of those around him, but I knew I saw it partially peeking out.

I did the process of turning off the vision, leaving my eyes closed this time for a nap, I knew there was danger on the train, but I also knew they wouldn't do anything right now, they were only watching us. What I hadn't noticed at the time, was the man in the green hat, whom I did not get a good look at, had a serpent-like S on his hat, and a scar over his right eye.

"Sir?" I heard a girl ask me, tapping my shoulder. I peaked an eye open, she was glowing white, so I closed it again and relaxed. Her voice was soft, high-pitched, and rather quiet.

"Yes?" I replied curiously.

"Can I get you anything to drink or eat?"

"No, thank you though." I gave her a smile with my eyes still closed.

"And for your wife?" My eyes snapped open and I became alert, so did Lucy.

"No, no, no... Ahaha, she's not my wife," I said quickly, "I barely know her." My eyes snapped her a look, it wasn't a false statement at all, I really didn't know her anymore.

"Oh, my apologies sir, would she like anything?" Lucy shook her head and the attendant gave us a small curtsy as she walked to other chairs, offering them food or drink.

We didn't say another word as I relaxed, my eyes closed and calm. The train went on for another hour before it stopped again, "Florence, North, final stop in the city." I heard over the intercom. The two of us stood up and got off the train, looking at each other we both realized neither of us actually knew how to get there.

I sighed and put on my special vision again, I saw a doorway amongst all the white glows of regular people, it was shiny a faint golden colour and I pointed at it. My hand gently pushed people out of the way as we approached it. Another door was glowing faintly, it appeared to be a restroom. I laughed quietly and Lucy hit my shoulder, "Christ, Desmond, grow up a little bit, I've seen a men's restroom, just go."

We stepped inside and I saw against the back wall there were three bricks glowing with the golden shade. "Give me a minute, Lucy." I told her as I stepped up, they were all three in a straight line across. I started touching them one by one from left to right, then I tried the left one, right one, middle one, but I got nothing so I hit the middle one, right one, left one. Again, nothing, so I tried middle, left, right, and turned off the vision when I heard a stone-on-stone grinding sound. The wall turned around halfway, leaving a path and Lucy stepped inside first.

I turned around to close the door as I entered it, and a man had just exited the stall was staring at the door. I put a finger to my lips and slipped inside, closing the door because I was positive he hadn't seen the code.

It was dark for a moment before a light came on above us with a click, and then a few steps ahead with another, and again, all the way down the hallway. I smiled, thinking now how I would be received. Lucy didn't notice as she walked ahead of me, but I was just praying Rebecca was the first one to see me from behind the door. No doubt they knew somebody was coming, so they most likely prepared for them.

We knocked at a door and I heard a voice come from the intercom beside it, "Who's there?" Part of me died when I found the voice to be English, and not Rebecca's.

"Lucy and Desmond, open the door, Shaun." She said sternly.

"What? No, that's not possible at all, who is it really?" Shaun asked, clearly not joking.

Lucy pressed the button to respond when I cut in, "It's us, open the god damned door, Shaun, or so help me I'll kick your ass back to England."

The door opened without another word to Erudito, sitting at a table, not even fazed by their 'new' visitors. Shaun was standing beside the door with a smile at Lucy, it faded when I walked in. Something told me he wasn't so thrilled I was there. Rebecca and Lucy did something I hadn't seen before, they hugged. The idea fascinated me, because I'd never seen either of them do something like that before, but when Rebecca spotted me over Lucy's shoulder, her face lit up and she released the blond woman.

The dark-haired girl dove to my arms in an embrace and smiled, putting a head on her shoulder, daring not to say a word. After a moment we released and I smiled at her, "Alright guys, I don't know how much time we have but-"

"Desmond, I'm back, you don't have to worry about leading anymore." Lucy said, a tone of arrogance in her voice. "Is the Animus online?" She asked Rebecca, who nodded in return.

"Lucy, I'm not getting in today, there's no way in hell I'm getting in after what happened at the coffee place to day, not a chance." I said determinedly, and she sighed in response.

"Fine. We'll work tomorrow, Desmond, get your rest, we'll catch up over breakfast, but then we've got work to do." She said angrily, clearly frustrated as she stormed out of the room to choose a bedroom. Apparently her manners were forgotten at Abstergo, because later I heard her and Shaun fighting over the rooms, she had chosen his.

_**Author's Note**_**: Hey everybody! :D I hope you enjoyed Chapter 10. I was thinking about making this one the end of ****The Start of Something New and then working on a secret project before starting Book II. :) What do you think? Don't worry, if I end Book I now, I'll be releasing a mini-series that isn't Book II, but I think you'll like it if you liked Chapter 4 of this one. ;) Just a little hint there. I love you guys! :D Keep reading, reviewing, thank you to East Coast Captain for his number of reviews over the last day :) he's the reason I was pushed to write this chapter.**

**~B**


	11. Don't Judge a Book

My hands gripped Rebecca's lower sides firmly, a smile on my face as I pulled away from her lips. One hand reached up and pushed her hair from her eyes. We didn't say anything in the dim light of my newest room. We merely stared into the being of one another, holding ourselves in a limbo between the disaster of the world and the bliss we shared in that moment.

The air had rid itself of tension for the longest time before the both of us cringed at the sound of, "Please, Lucy! You disappear for months without any word, being alive, letting us worry about you like that and now you're going to try to take my room? Nuh-uh, it's not happening!" The thick English accent almost seeped through the walls into my ears, as if it were nails on chalkboard.

"Does he ever just give it a rest?" I ask the young woman sitting in front of me with half a smirk.

"Oh, c'mon, Desmond, you know as well as I do that if he weren't always acting like that we'd go insane. We need comic relief, even if it isn't on purpose." The girl's lips curled up into an almost evil smirk as her lips met mine once more tenderly.

"Well, **Shaun**, if you think that I'm going to sleep on the couch, you're sadly mistaken! Now get out of _my_ room, please." Lucy's cries were louder than Shaun's in the small complex, and even sent chills through my spine at times.

I gave a small laugh, "I s'pose you're right." I turned myself a little and lay back against the wall that the bed was up against, putting an arm over Rebecca's shoulder. Her head tilted to rest in the nook by my neck, both of her hands hanging from my one around her shoulder as we just listened to the bickering on the other side of the wall.

"You are such a pain, Lucy! Really, you are, I don't know how anybody stands you! You whine and bicker and when you don't get your way!" The Brit's temper tantrum was being slightly ridiculous, in my opinion, but it provided more amusement for me, so I had no complaints. "You're self-centered, arrogant, and conceited!" I heard him shout at her.

"No, I have priorities, confidence, and you're just below me!" She retaliated. I couldn't help but laugh and look at Rebecca.

"Does she know what conceited means…?" I asked, still smiling in amusement.

Rebecca laughed in retaliation and shrugged just before Shaun had his own response to Lucy. "You know what your problem is Lucy? You-" The man was cut off with the slamming of a door.

I couldn't resist a hard laugh, "Who the hell needs TV when you have those two? Lucy is cut-throat, he stood no chance." My head leaned against Rebecca's as I smiled lightly, "Let's get some sleep, I have to get into that hell-bed again tomorrow." Rebecca laughed feebly.

"It's okay, Desmond, I'll make sure you're not in too long." She gave me a smile and kissed my cheek before we slipped into the twilight bliss of sleep.

-Hours later -

I hadn't slept too well, and when I had I didn't dream at all. I kept thinking I heard a thumping or a banging for the first while of the night, squeaking too. I figured it was my mind playing tricks on me; just being in the safe house again was how I explained it to myself. I stepped out of my room rather early, it was around four thirty in the morning as I let Rebecca stretch out on the bed. At the same time I stepped from my room, Shaun's, or rather Lucy's, door opened.

Out of the room stepped Lucy, her hair was a mess, and she didn't look like she'd been sleeping much. She had a lazy, tired look on her face. It wasn't just sleep she was lacking, she looked purely drained, physically exhausted even.

"Can't sleep?" I asked groggily as I rubbed my eyes, still wearing jeans and my white hoodie. I hadn't changed since we got back, though my blade was under my wrist. I had decided never to be without it after recent events, any second I could need it and without it I'd be purely defenseless.

She nodded and yawned, stretching her arms out as she did so. She scratched her bare stomach the following moment. The woman didn't seem to be wearing pajamas, just slept in her underwear I supposed with a shrug, blowing it off.

She quietly shut the door behind her as I started walking down the hall. "So…" I started, not having an idea where to take the conversation. We wandered into a kitchen/break-room-like setting and she started the coffee maker, in desperate need of energy. As the water began filling into the machine, I pushed myself up onto the counter, "Tell me about what you were doing at Abstergo."

Lucy seemed to snap to attention, "What's there to tell? I told you they took me as a hostage, didn't I? Forced me to work."

I nodded, "Mhmm… But what were you doing that whole time? While you didn't have me, you were working; did you give them Assassin intel or just keep busy tracking me?" Her only response was to shrug, trying to be vague. "Lucy," I said with more conviction, "What were you doing?"

The woman let out a sigh before looking up at me, "Searching for Pieces of Eden, Desmond. We needed you to find the Sword, or at least to find where it was at one point. We knew where it stopped next… And how to find it… What they didn't know was where the descendant was."

I rose an eyebrow in questioning, "Descendant of who?" I asked.

Lucy rolled her eyes before the coffee maker dinged and she poured two mugs. She handed me one and I set it down as she slowly took a sip. The woman leaned on the table in the center of the room, "Joanne of Arc. She was the last one to have the sword. We needed her descendant, and regardless of where I am… I have no idea who it is or where they are… Not even all of Abstergo's technology could find her right now. She's been living off the grid, and I know precisely why. If you'd stayed with the Farm as a child, Desmond, become a full blown Assassin… Then you'd have been highly protected, as Ezio was the last one to have the Apple, as far as we know. Your ancestors were very powerful, as you know, and you'd have a high place in the Brotherhood. But you don't, because you left. It's how we could find you, you had no protection, no ability to protect yourself."

I looked at her in shock, "Wow… You know too much about me, Luce. So… What do we have to do?"

She rose an eyebrow, "Hmph… I don't exactly know… I s'pose we could find her best in France."

My jaw dropped, "Wait, wait… Why the hell do I need to keep going into the Animus if we could find her and hunt down the sword? Don't you think I need a break from that horrid machine?"

Lucy looked down and away, "It's complex, Desmond… Please, just… Trust me, okay?" I shook my head.

"Of all the bullshit…" I muttered as I stormed from the room as passed Shaun. He was emerging from Lucy's room as well, and as much as I normally would have pursued the subject, it didn't fascinate me tonight. I needed to lie down for a while.

_**Author's Note:**_** Hey guys. Sorry it took so long to make Chapter 11, hope you enjoyed it. My laptop was out of commission for a while due to a battery problem I was having. ^_^ I've posted a new poll and I would **_**really**_** appreciate it if you guys would vote. :) It has to do with the story, so hopefully you'll be interested.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys liked it, review if you could, thanks! :D**

**~BKS**


	12. What Love Has to Do With It

My eyes slowly opened to a dimly lit room. I turned my head over and saw my alarm clock had been turned off by somebody else. It said 1:30, and I knew instantly it didn't mean PM. Gracious for the moments of freedom I had right then, I relaxed before easing out of my bed. I gradually opened my door, wondering where everybody was. I was approaching the kitchen when I heard hushed whispers from the others.

"I think he's ready, Lucy." Rebecca's voice sounded firmly.

"No, Rebecca, he needs to train more." She replied with an irritated tone.

"How do you possibly think he's not ready? This isn't the kind of thing you can prepare for easily! Besides, it comes naturally to him; you've seen how easy he's caught on and you know as well as I do that no more training is going to help him." Rebecca's voice was growing from the whisper.

I thought for a moment, perhaps I'd let them fight it out. Something in me wouldn't let me just sit and listen; it pushed me into the room with a stern look on my face. "Hey," I said, looking from Rebecca to Shaun, Shaun to Rebecca, Rebecca to William. "What's going on?" The question hung in the air, the tension was thick from the silence.

"Desmond… I-" Rebecca started before Lucy interrupted, pushing in front of everybody else.

"We're arguing about whether we should send you to the Abstergo HQ in Florence to retrieve the Apple or not. And you're not." She informed me angrily, crossing her arms.

"And I get no say in this?" I asked sternly, my voice was rising. I felt betrayed now; they went behind my back and tried to discuss my future without my say, as if I couldn't just leave on my own anyway. "Well, thanks everybody. Just. Fucking. Wonderul." I said with fury, storming from the room. From the kitchen they would hear me speaking to myself as I walked away from them, "Can't trust anybody, Jesus Christ!"

I stormed down the few hallways to the door, and the group would begin to worry as they heard it open and shut behind me. What could they do? As if any of them could catch me if I decided to run. They needed _me_, not the other way around. I was once more in the subway bathroom, the wall shutting behind me. My gaze moved down to my wrist, my blade concealed inside of my hoodie. A man exited a stall, brushing himself off.

_Wow, he could have seen me…_ I noted as I left the bathroom, entering the bustling subway. A man hit my shoulder as he walked by, clearly in a rush. I would have liked to give him a piece of my mind, but remaining anonymous was more important as I was sure Abstergo was still searching for me. My eyes darted from one end of the subway to another, not giving me time to think before making my feet carry me to the stairs that led out of the station. I ascended the stairs slowly, and as I reached the top, the light shone in my eyes, blinding me for a moment.

"There he is!" I heard somebody shout from outside the light. _Shit, not again…_ I thought as I shielded my eyes, unable to believe what I saw.

_**Author's Note:**_** Hey guys! I'm back again :) I know that this chapter is first in a ****VERY**** long time, I've just been so busy lately that I couldn't keep up with it and I didn't have much to write. So, this is more just to let you guys know I'm okay and still here. Please Review :) I'm always up for the feedback, it's what helps me get around to writing more chapters. Hope I get a batch of reviews on this chapter too, I know it wasn't as long as it could've been, but I didn't have very far to go with it.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**~BKS :)**


	13. Message From the Author

**Message from the Author:**

Hey, guys, sorry I haven't updated at all in... pshh... so long. Okay, so, here's the deal - I had a long, thought-out message written for you guys to know how much I cared about you and how sorry I was for being gone and everything... and then it got deleted by a non-responsive program. _ Anyway, long story short, I'm very glad to have seen people are still following my stories despite my long absence, and I've decided to get back into solo writing. I've been doing a lot more collaborative original writing in the past few years as opposed to fanfiction. I will not be able to continue The Start of Something New or Two Sides of a Coin because of my hiatus, but that doesn't mean I'll never write another Assassin's Creed or Pokémon story! It all depends on plot ideas and the like that come around. In my time away, I've become a much more organized writer and my pace has come to a much more comfortable speed - whereas before a lot of my writing has been rather quick and detached from the story.

The new account is BKenScout and I hope to see you all there! I'm uploading this as a chapter to The Start of Something New as well as placing it on my profile page so that anybody can see it. I will also attach links to the new page so that you guys can find me easily. In my absence, I've found several new inspirations and fandoms that I really like, so we'll see how it all goes - expect more variety from me though, that's for sure. Can't wait to get started my new stuff!

Links to BKenScout:

~BKenScout

u/5421668/


End file.
